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On a Sunday morning in the haze and heat of July, a group of students in impeccably pressed suits gathered in the lobby of the Charles F. Dolan School of Business. Many had driven hours to campus to meet with ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ Magazine. They were all ten minutes early. They had firm handshakes. They were prepared to field questions about macroeconomic outlooks, risk analytics, and long-term investment growth strategies.

Fairfield Dolan prides itself on the top-drawer preparedness of its students. But this group is a particular marker of the Dolan School’s quality of experience: they are members of the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), a competitive extracurricular club open to any undergraduate or graduate student willing to brave the rigorous application process.

Headquartered in Fairfield Dolan, the SMIF club is advised by Nazli Sila Alan, PhD, associate professor of finance, Nomalia Manna, PhD, assistant professor of finance, and Noah Wollowick, visiting instructor of analytics. Members meet every Tuesday evening during the academic year to venture into actual securities analysis and portfolio management.

The SMIF currently manages about $400,000, a portion of the University’s endowment allocated by Fairfield’s Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer Michael Trafecante MBA’01, P’26,’22,’21,’19. Trafecante acts as signatory on the brokerage account for the group and liaises to the University’s Board of Trustees, which ultimately approves all allotted funds.

Trafecante said that one of the many rewards of working with SMIF is “getting to know these truly impressive, high-quality students” who will one day, he suspects, become very successful.

The SMIF has grown remarkably since its inception in 2007, when a handful of students gathered to form an investment team. Today, there are 50 student members across class years and a core long term leadership group that consists of a president, co-vice presidents, seven portfolio managers, and a fleet of analysts. The SMIF also has students in the roles of chief economist, chief risk officer, and chief marketing officer. Grouped by industry segment, teams of members present ideas to the full club each week; these initiatives are then voted on by the officers.

Student-run investment funds and clubs exist at other universities, and they, too, often invest actual money, but one particular distinction makes Fairfield Dolan’s SMIF unique.

“A big difference at ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ÊÓƵÎÞÏÞÖƹۿ´ is the autonomy we give to the students,” said Dr. Alan, who has advised the group since 2019. In talking with a number of faculty from other schools, she’s learned that when it comes to decision making, faculty members often have the biggest input. And even more often than that, student recommendations have to go “up the chain” in a weeklong or two-week approval process. “By then, the market has changed,” said Dr. Alan. “In our case, students have to show up every week; there is no ‘free riding.’ Sales and acquisitions are decided upon…and everything executes the next morning.”

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